The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced that it does not propose to intervene in the proposed acquisition by Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) and the Laundy Hotel Group of the Caringbah Hotel in NSW.
Woolworths Limited has a direct 75 per cent interest in ALH.
“The ACCC’s view is that this acquisition is unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition in any of the relevant markets,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
The ACCC considered that the Caringbah store was a large format, ‘destination’ liquor store. The nearest liquor store of that kind owned by Woolworths is a Dan Murphy’s 12km away at Hurstville.
“While there was evidence of some competition between these stores, the removal of that competition was unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition,” Mr Sims said.
“In the area surrounding the Caringbah Hotel, following the proposed acquisition, ALH/Woolworths would be likely to be competitively constrained by a number of remaining competitors in the market,” Mr Sims said.
Section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 prohibits mergers and acquisitions that would have the effect, or be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition in a market.
The basis upon which the ACCC has reached its decision will be outlined on the ACCC's website, www.accc.gov.au, through the Mergers Register.